Half of Syrian refugees in Turkey are under 18

ISTANBUL

Over 1.3 million Syrian refugees in the country are under the age of 18, the Interior Ministry has revealed Thursday.

According to the figures collected by the Directorate General of Migration Management, 1,322,187 Syrian children currently live in Turkey.

Turkey hosts the largest number of Syrian refugees in the world, i.e. 2,783,617 as of Dec. 1. There were 2,503,549 in 2015 and 1,519,285 in 2014, the ministry said.

Nearly 260,000 Syrians reside in 23 temporary refugee centers in 10 eastern provinces of Turkey, while the others live principally in cities across the country.

Based on the data, Istanbul hosts the highest number of refugees, with 416,690. It represents 2.84 percent of the city's population.

All registered Syrian refugees benefit from permits providing access to health and education services.

Syria has remained locked in a vicious civil war since early 2011, when the Bashar al-Assad regime cracked down on pro-democracy protests with unexpected ferocity.

Since then, more than 250,000 people have been killed and more than 10 million displaced, according to UN figures.